Potato a blessing for Bangladesh economy

In the global economy, every country has its own economically important products for domestic and global markets. Economically important agricultural or industrial products have been playing a dominant role in the economy of a country. The dairy products of New Zealand, rice of Thailand and Cambodia,  petroleum products of Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, ready-made garments and textile products of Bangladesh are some examples.

Potato can play a vital role to accelerate the economic activities of Bangladesh if structural and financial supports are given. Potato is used as staple food in many countries of Europe and Asia and it is considered as number 4 in staple food list. In Bangladesh, potato is not consumed as staple food rather it's taken as vegetable.
Potato is a popular vegetable consumed in Bangladesh during the whole year. Its cultivation is growing faster in the country. During FY 2012-13, nine million tons of potato have grown in Bangladesh. The potato growers, mainly the farmers, have not been getting fair price of their produce due to many problems including marketing. The major problems faced by potato growers are: supply is more than demand, lack of marketing facilities, lack of storage facilities, less commercial use, export, lack of fiscal support and poor communication systems. Every year we come to know from the media that farmers face uphill problems with potato when there is a bumper production.
The fibre content of a potato with skin (2 g) is equivalent to that of many whole grain breads, pastas and cereals. The potato is best known for its carbohydrate content (approximately 26 grams in a medium potato). The predominant form of this carbohydrate is starch. A small but significant portion of this starch is resistant to digestion due to enzymes in the stomach and small intestine, and so it reaches the large intestine essentially intact. This resistant starch is considered to have similar physiological effects and health benefits as fibre. It provides protection against colon cancer, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, lowers plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, increases satiety, and possibly even reduces fat storage. The amount of resistant starch in potatoes depends much on preparation methods. Cooking and then cooling potatoes significantly increase resistant starch. For example, cooked potato starch contains about 7 per cent resistant starch, which increases to about 13 per cent upon cooling. Potato contains more vitamin C, more calcium than rice.
Bangladesh is a small country with 160 million populations Rice is the staple food in Bangladesh. Potato has more vitamins and food values than rice. The price of potato is much cheaper than that of rice. At the present time, price of 1 kg rice varies from BDT 35 to BDT 60 whereas the price of 1 kg potato varies from BDT 7 to BDT 10. Potato is cheaper, economic and healthier food item. If the huge population of the country can change their food habits and switch over from consuming more rice to more potato, it would boost up the demand for potato to a great extent and the farmers would have good market for potato. A population of 160 million people obviously offers a prospective market for the growers. There should be a centre for potato development and research in Bangladesh like the International Potato Centre, the US Centre for Potato Development and the Central Potato Research Centre of India to highlight the domestic and commercial uses of potato. The food value of potato, its heterogeneous uses, costs and benefits of consuming it need to be brought to the notice of the general people of the country through widespread publicity and promotional works in the local TV, radio and other kinds of media.
Adequate storage facilities at the vicinity of the growers are necessary to store potato for the off-season consumption. The present storage facilities in the country are quite insufficient to meet the demand. The government may provide support through the fiscal policy and the financial institutions may come forward to finance building and structures for additional storage facilities. In addition to storage problems, for potato production, farmers are confronted with high prices of seed and fertiliser, no access to credit and lack of information on disease prevention and pest management and repeated increase of energy prices that affect the cold storage costs.
Bangladesh is self sufficient in only one crop, which is potato. In 1989-90, national potato production was about 1.07 million tons from 0.117 million hectares. In 2012-13, the production increased to 9.5 million tons from 0.65 million hectares. The important reasons for such an increase are the use of improved varieties, adoption of appropriate agro-techniques, application of modern pest and disease management techniques and use of improved quality seeds. In the coming years, production is expected to be rise much more. In Bangladesh, more than 385 cold storages are operating presently with the storing capacity of about 4.0 million tons. The storing capacity is only 35-40 per cent of the total production. Building more cold storages is not the only solution for incoming high production, but finding out the ways of utilisation of the produce are the most important tasks for the government, non-government, public and private organisations and the growers.
Uses of potato for commercial purposes need to be popularised among the people of the country. Potato flakes are important products from potato which can be exported to foreign countries. Potato chips, potato french-fries, potato soups, potato salad and potato pan cakes are important and profitable food items. In the UK, potatoes form part of the traditional staple fish and chips. Roast potatoes are commonly served with a Sunday roast, and mashed potatoes form a major component of several other traditional dishes such as shepherd's pie, bubble and squeak, and bangers and mash. New potatoes are often cooked with mint and served with a little melted butter. Potatoes are used to brew alcoholic beverages such as vodka, potcheen, or akvavit.
They are also used as food for domestic animals.  Potato starch is used in the food industry as, for example, thickeners and binders of soups and sauces, in the textile industry, as adhesives, and for the manufacturing of papers and boards. Potato skins, along with honey, are a folk remedy for burns in India. Burn centres in India have experimented with the use of the thin outer skin layer to protect burns while healing.
 In addition to chips and French fries, other processing items such as flakes and powder do not absolutely require the large tuber size or high dry matter content; although higher is always better for an economic return. These two items (flakes and powder) may be most ideal for the utilisation of the surplus potatoes produced in Bangladesh. There is a good internal demand of these items, and there is also a good export market. By using potato for commercial purposes in local and international markets, Bangladesh can make it an economically important product and earn foreign exchange, provide employment opportunities to millions of unemployed and under-employed people of the country and provide food security to hungry people around the world.
The writer is the Group                   Financial Controller of a                         private group of industries. [email protected]